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      Righteous Kill

      2008, Crime/Drama, 1h 40m

      148 Reviews 50,000+ Ratings

      What to know

      Critics Consensus

      Al Pacino and Robert De Niro do their best to elevate this dowdy genre exercise, but even these two greats can't resuscitate the film's hackneyed script. Read critic reviews

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      Righteous Kill  Photos

      Righteous Kill (2008) Righteous Kill (2008) Righteous Kill (2008) Righteous Kill (2008) Righteous Kill (2008) Righteous Kill (2008) Robert De Niro stars in Overture Films' RIGHTEOUS KILL. (Left to right.) Robert De Niro and Al Pacino star in Overture Films' RIGHTEOUS KILL. (Left to right.) Robert De Niro and Al Pacino star in Overture Films' RIGHTEOUS KILL. Al Pacino stars in Overture Films' RIGHTEOUS KILL. Al Pacino stars in Overture Films' RIGHTEOUS KILL. Robert De Niro stars in Overture Films' RIGHTEOUS KILL.

      Movie Info

      Detectives Thomas Cowan (Robert De Niro) and David Fisk (Al Pacino), 30-year veterans of the NYPD, investigate the murder of a pimp. The crime resembles a case they solved many years earlier. As the body count rises, they realize they're dealing with a vigilante taking over when the police fail. The similarities between past and present crimes leads the detectives to wonder if they put the wrong man behind bars.

      • Rating: R (Pervasive Language|Brief Drug Use|Some Sexuality|Violence)

      • Genre: Crime, Drama

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Jon Avnet

      • Producer: Avi Lerner, Jon Avnet, Randall Emmett, Lati Grobman, Alexandra Milchan

      • Writer: Russell Gewirtz

      • Release Date (Theaters):  wide

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Box Office (Gross USA): $40.1M

      • Runtime:

      • Distributor: Overture Films

      • Production Co: Emmett/Furla Films, Millennium Films

      Cast & Crew

      Robert De Niro
      Al Pacino
      Carla Gugino
      Donnie Wahlberg
      Melissa Leo
      Oleg Taktarov
      Brian Dennehy
      John Leguizamo
      Jon Avnet
      Boaz Davidson
      George Furla
      Danny Dimbort
      Denis Lenoir
      Trevor Short
      Jon Avnet
      Paul Hirsch
      Ed Shearmur
      Tracey Gallacher
      Christy Wilson
      Kathy Lucas
      Debra McGuire

      News & Interviews for Righteous Kill

      Critic Reviews for Righteous Kill

      Audience Reviews for Righteous Kill

      • Dec 30, 2011

        this is not heat. poor film with a poor story and poor direction

        brendan n Super Reviewer
      • Sep 23, 2011

        Righteous Kill is an average police mystery/thriller, terribly disappointing considering the two acting giants who star in it. I always like Carla Guginio and John Lequizamo too, but they don't add much here. So, all these actors have done impressive work before, but director Jon Avnet doesn't get much done here. There is some intensity, but its all clichéd and formulaic. Really, is this the best everyone could do? I enjoyed watching Pacino and DeNiro (Rooster and Turk?) together, but RK doesn't compare to Heat, much less Godfather II. This is essentially a bigger budget episode of Law and Order.

        Super Reviewer
      • Jul 21, 2011

        Man, killing this film would be righteous. No, it's not that bad, but lord knows that it's not that good. Why? Because it's the same ol', same ol' and the same ol', same ol' isn't even good enough to begin with. The film also suffers from a lack of development, dialogue that ranges from improvable to terrible, unbelievable character behavior, as well very choppy slow-motion, which is actually a big deal enough when it's not a bit too much. Still, the film remains mostly plagued by its being so generic with little refreshing elements. It's consistently cliched, but that's almost a complement, because that might be the only thing consistent about it, as the storyline - on top of being generic - is a bit thrown-together and rather inconsistent. Still, there's hardly anything in here to warrant hatred. It's just a passable film that has its strengths and its weaknesses, with neither growing too extreme over the other. We've discussed the weaknesses, so how about we get into these strengths I've been talking about? The film is supported by a generic, but decent score, fair sound, fine character chemistry, a progressive increase in pacing smoothness, as well as a twist so good final act, kicked-off by a solid twist and topped-off by a pretty decent ending. Of course, what mainly saves the film are the performances of the two leads. As cliched as the characters played by De Niro and Pacino are, they still retain compellingness. It's not hard to see what's coming, but De Niro and Pacino still keep the film having some type of compellingness, thanks to their solid performances and chemistry. Overall, "Righteous Kill" is a wildly cliched crime thriller, but is made passable by the solid lead performances, satisfying final act and general entertainment value that is never totally destroyed by the film's genericism.

        cameron j Super Reviewer
      • Mar 17, 2011

        ok...a pair of seasoned cops, Turk (Robert De Niro) and Rooster (Al Pacino) are on the case when a serial killer with a vigillante streak starts bumping off bad guys in New York City.They team up with younger detectives Perez and Riley and assisted by crime scene specilist Karen Corelli they work to uncover the killers identity with little more to go on than a poem left as a calling card at the scene of each crime. has an obvious twist~!

        Super Reviewer

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